(a/n) Okay – so this is only the second fanfic I've done and really the only reason I'm doing it is because I HATED the way the Jessica storyline played out in the last part of the season and so this is me fixing it. This is going to be several chapters long. I have three done right now – this is the first one. Please be kind. I am not a fiction writer – this is not my strong suit by any means.

I don't own Timeless – Timeless owns me.

So where does that leave us?

Same place as always. Kicking ass and saving the world.

Lucy's words resonated within the prison that was Wyatt's mind for what seemed like an eternity. The rift that had developed between them when Jessica had suddenly reappeared was slowly killing them both, threatening to tear a hole in each of their hearts. To be in such close quarters, seeing each other every day, working side by side, sharing the same meal at the same table and yet to be so very far apart was proving to be more than either of them could handle. The cracks were beginning to form as the pressure got heavier with each passing day. Working together, side by side on this last jump had made Wyatt realize how much he missed just being near Lucy. Her anger and frustration with him, his jealousy over her budding friendship with Flynn, their mutual frustration at the situation in which they found themselves had boiled over into a series of arguments, but at the end of the day, they were team mates, friends, and Wyatt was unbelievably proud of her strength, character and courage. When Grace Humiston found her voice, the voice that Lucy had inspired within her, Wyatt knew that no one on this Earth could fill his heart with as much pride and joy as Lucy Preston. As he sat in the LifeBoat across from her on the journey back to the present, his thoughts were filled with nothing but her and how much she meant to him.

Exiting the LifeBoat, however, was like crossing into an entirely different universe. Once he re-entered the present, he was in a mess of his own making. He could no longer talk to Lucy, look at Lucy, or be near Lucy in the same way that he could while on a mission. For the first time in weeks, Wyatt and Lucy had been together. Alone. They argued, sure…but they were able to talk about their very difficult and painful situation. After weeks of emotional and physical distance, 1919 had given them the opportunity to talk and talk is what they desperately needed. Any gains that were made on that mission, however were roughly tossed aside by a pair of familiar, yet unwelcome lips that met his on the Silo floor. Jessica had approached and wrapped Wyatt into an uncomfortable kiss – uncomfortable because Lucy who had only just communicated the hurt she was feeling because of this VERY situation - was standing and looking on at the two of them with a look that both pained and humiliated him.

He couldn't keep doing this. He couldn't continue to live this lie. He loved Jessica, of course he did, she had been his wife, but his heart was Lucy's. Jessica had lived six years in a timeline that he had no memory of. Six years of fights, drunkenness, unhappiness, and counseling. For Wyatt, that six years was dominated by guilt, grief and pain….and he had only begun to live again because of the miracle that was Lucy Preston. Her face, which a few moments ago was beaming with pride for what Grace Humiston had done in the place of Alice Paul – was now reflecting the anguish she felt in seeing Wyatt in the arms of someone else. He understood that he was to blame for that heartache – Jess's kiss was hers to give, he invited her there, had asked for that second chance; but in attempting to do the right thing, he had hurt Lucy. While it pained him to hurt her, the biggest pang of regret came when he realized not long after Jess arrived that he was attempting to regain something that he now knew had been lost long before his Jess had gone missing that fateful night. He understood now that he had idealized their marriage – remembering only the good times they shared and glossing over the fact that more often than not, they were fighting and barely able to see eye to eye on the simplest of issues. He was a changed man, now - sure– but that change he owed to Lucy and the more time he spent away from her, the further he felt from her influence on his thoughts and actions. She was a lifeline to him and he was being sent adrift into a storm that would inevitably break that connection and he knew he could not survive without it.

He sought out Lucy, after the mission debrief, desperately hoping to fix the mess he put them all in. This conversation, long overdue, was an attempt on Wyatt's part to gauge Lucy's feelings, but mostly he just wanted to be near her, to touch her, to be as alone as he could be with her in a bunker full of people. She still cared for him but she wouldn't stand between him and his wife. She was Lucy Preston, after all and he hadn't expected anything less. It was her insistence, however, that he was in love with Jessica that this was what he wanted, that made him pause. She didn't know…or worse, she believed that he thought of her less than he did of Jessica. The she somehow couldn't measure up to the wife, the dream, that he had spent the whole first part of their acquaintance describing.

So where does that leave us?

The same place we've always been. Kicking ass and saving the world.

Wyatt smirked at that comment – they made a good team, no one could doubt it for a second. But then, the emptiness settled in. She was saying they were supposed to go back to what they were before…but it would be less than what they were before, because how could they return to casual touches and smiling glances without being painfully reminded of their one perfect night in 1941? It wouldn't work and to be near her but not be near her was something that Wyatt could not stand. His voice caught in his throat, but he had to tell her. "Lucy, that's not enough for me...and I don't think it's enough for you."

Lucy heaved a sigh and shook her head, retreating further into the open space of the bunker. "It will have to be enough, Wyatt. You have a wife you love and I will not be the other woman."

Wyatt closed the space between them again. "Lucy, listen…"

'No, Wyatt...I can't do this…we can't do this." Lucy turned sharply and faced him. "This is what you have wanted since I've known you and I'm not getting in the way of that. You're in love Jessica, your wife and we have to accept that."

"Damnit Lucy, I'm not in love with Jessica, I'm in love with you." The words came tumbling out of Wyatt's mouth desperately, almost painfully as he approached her again. He searched her face, trying to catch a glimmer of understanding and hopefully, of reciprocation. After everything he had put her through, after all the pain that she felt when he brought his once dead wife to live with them, could she possibly still love him enough to forgive him?

Lucy's heart was in her throat. She felt the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She hadn't expected this. He had left so quickly after that text came, left her with no explanation until hours later. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. How could he be in love with her when Jessica was the one he stole a Time Machine for? How could he be in love with her when Jessica was the lightning bolt that made him believe in love at first sight? Wyatt was near her now, his hands now grasping her own.

"Lucy, look…I loved Jessica, but I can't live this lie anymore. It's been six years for me and our marriage wasn't what I thought it was. I've been beating myself up since that night thinking that if I could go back and change it, that everything would be alright – that I would be happy." He looked in her eyes and lifted one of his hands to caress her cheek. "But I'm not happy, Lucy. I don't know Jess anymore, not this Jess - and no matter how hard I try to make it work, all I can think of is how much I love you and how much I miss you."

One solitary tear fell down Lucy's cheek and Wyatt gently brushed it away with a stroke of his thumb. "Wyatt" she said softly, "she's your wife – who am I to stand in the middle of…."

"Of what?" Wyatt asked. "Lucy, you're the one who said we can't keep living in the past. You're right. Jessica is my past. I didn't mean to fall in love with you, Lucy, but I did. I moved on." He rubbed his neck with his hands. "I don't know why I ran out of here so fast when I saw that text from Jessica, it was just such a shock and I had to see it for myself. I mean, we step off the LifeBoat and I get a text from my dead wife…it's not something you can prepare for. Then when she told me what a terrible husband I'd been, I couldn't…I just couldn't end it that way. I couldn't. I wanted to make it right, if I could. I owed her that much. I'm not the same person I was, hell, I don't even know who this guy is she married in this timeline, but that's just the thing….I don't know her either." He pressed his forehead against hers. "Please Lucy, you…"

The tell tale sound of footsteps interrupted them. They both stepped away from each other – Lucy straightened up, wiped her eyes and walked over to a far corner to collect her thoughts, hugging herself as she did so. Wyatt turned, scowling, to face whoever it was that decided to venture down this particular corridor at this particular moment…bad timing just seemed to be a running joke around here.

Agent Christopher was the interloper this time. She paid no attention to the exasperated expression that had spread across Wyatt's face. In fact, she wasn't looking up at all, but was instead, almost totally engrossed in an open folder she was carrying in her right hand. "Wyatt" she said, finally. "I was hoping you and I could have a private discussion in the debriefing room."

Wyatt turned to glance back at Lucy, but she had her eyes fixed firmly to the floor, still standing apart from him with her arms hugged around her waist. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed "Whatever you need, ma'am".